MBA Curriculum Receives Tune-Up for 21st Century

The School of Business has opened the hood of its M.B.A. curriculum, gone in with wrenches blazing, and come out with a sleek new power plant designed to help its graduates cruise the business autobahns of the 21st century.

The new four-semester curriculum, in place by next fall, features a Business School first: traditional semester-long courses combined with seven-week modules. The modules make the new curriculum more student- and employer-friendly.

“We did market research for designing this curriculum,” says Associate Dean Randall Dunham, professor of business and new director of the school’s graduate programs (see accompanying story). “We evaluated our competitor’s products at other business schools, but we also asked employers what they would like to see in our M.B.A. graduates.”

Here’s what employers said: They want graduates who can effectively participate in teams, lead socially responsible team-based organizations, make quality improvements, deal with the legal environment, and use information technology as a management tool. All those topics are now covered by seven-week modules.

The new format gives students a bevy of benefits. The shorter segment allows course material to be kept more current and better-tailored to the individual needs of students. It also gives them a greater opportunity to take electives in their majors, both inside and outside of the Business School.

One of the modules, Data Analysis for Managers, shows how the curriculum ties coursework to workplace. “Many students hate statistics, but they love answering questions,” says Dunham. “So in the data analysis module, we’ll say to the students, ‘Here are the data, now give us a way to organize it so we can answer a series of questions about this organization.'”

The new curriculum reflects the fact that modern business is global business. “We’re negotiating agreements with study centers in Paris, Copenhagen, Madrid, Frankfort, England and the Pacific rim,” says Dunham. “M.B.A. students will be able to spend up to a semester abroad without extending the length of their program.”

The overhaul comes after a team of people poured their energy into a two-year project. It was developed by a faculty committee led by Professor John Nevin, with advice from business leaders, students and members of the Dean’s Advisory Board. Professor Ernest Hanson oversaw its final development and integration of its components.

Assisting Dunham in implementing the program will be Cathy Davis, director of graduate student services, and newly hired Lisa Urban, as director of marketing and student recruiting.

Andrew Policano, dean of the Business School, predicts that the new curriculum “will help the School of Business recruit top-quality students, improve their value to employers and increase our national recognition.”

Dunham couldn’t agree more. “This,” he says as his eyes light up, “will be an exciting time.”